


Hey, It's Not Your Birthday

by Annie D (scaramouche)



Category: Happy Death Day (Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Coda, Established Relationship, F/M, Flirting, Movie: Happy Death Day (2017), New Relationship, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28085301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scaramouche/pseuds/Annie%20D
Summary: Tree finally wakes up on September 19, but it’s not quite over.
Relationships: Carter Davis/Theresa "Tree" Gelbman
Comments: 22
Kudos: 51
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Hey, It's Not Your Birthday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GeorgeEmerson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeorgeEmerson/gifts).



> **A/N** : I have seen & love both films, but this fic follows/diverges from the ending of the first _Happy Death Day_ only. I hope you enjoy!

The way Tree figured, she’d had zero proper sleep since her birthday started repeating. The closest she’d come to was in the most recent previous loop, when she’d died in her sleep thanks to that godforsaken cupcake, but that barely counted. The fact was: the unconscious nothing that existed between death and waking up in a cosmic loop was _not_ the same as sleep, and so not only had she had a fun few weeks of getting up close and personal with various ways to die (plural) and murderers (also freaking plural), she’d done it while sleep-deprived.

But Lori’s death was now behind her, and the mystery resolved. As Tree lay herself down to rest for what she hoped was the last September 18 for the next 364 days of her existence, she thought to herself: _Please,_ let this be sleep.

She deserved it. She was owed it. The most wonderful birthday present the birthday the universe could give her at this point was a decent night’s sleep. Or even just plain sleep, if ‘decent’ was asking for too much.

“Hey,” Carter said. He was getting ready to sleep on Ryan’s bed, but he came over to draw the blanket higher over Tree. “Relax. You did it.”

“I thought so _yesterday_ ,” Tree pointed out, but she allowed Carter to tuck the blanket around her. The room – and especially the bed – had the tang of college boy, but after over two weeks of waking up in this room, she’d gotten used to it. It was comforting in its way, but that was probably more because of how it was tied to Carter.

Tree was not in the mood to thank the universe for anything yet, but it she _were_ , she’d thank it for Carter. Of all the people she could’ve latched onto at that party, but it was Carter’s face that she got to see everything morning as the day repeated itself. Carter’s stupidly cute face, which came attached to that stupidly big heart of his that saw her through these loops to their (hopeful) end.

“Thank you,” Tree said quietly. “Just… whatever happens tomorrow, thank you.”

“No problem.” Carter’s tone was light and gentle, and it was more comforting than the blanket in helping Tree give in to the pull of sleep. “Goodnight, Tree.”

“’Night.” Tree closed her eyes and let her breath even out.

+

In the morning, wakefulness arrived with the chime of the campus clock. Tree squinted irritably against the morning light, her limbs heavy and aching, until she remembered and snapped awake.

Carter was already up, and crouched over something on the other side of the room. Tree’s breath caught at the familiar sight and she flailed a hand out for her phone on the table. Said phone wasn’t ringing, but that meant little. Her heart hammered rapidly in her chest, all the way through her swiping at the lock screen with a shaky thumb, revealing the date.

_Tuesday, September 19._

Tree stared. She read it again, closed her eyes and reopened them, and read it again.

“It’s not my birthday,” Tree said breathlessly. “It’s—” She dropped her phone and let out an almighty screech, in which she released the unbearable tension of the past weeks, with all of its death and pain and desperation. She was _free._

But this being a dorm, someone in the room next door immediately banged at the wall. “Keep it down!”

Tree felt a reply rise up in her chest ( _“Suck it!”_ ) but it was immediately forgotten when Carter stood up and turned. He was blessedly wearing a different shirt – long-sleeved blue and grey, instead of the green shirt over a black tee – and said, “That should be Eric. He gets cranky some mornings.”

“Right,” Tree said, already swept up in her good mood. “I guess if I had a perfectly normal morning interrupted by a crazy chick yelling next door, I’d be cranky, too.”

Carter was smiling that small, boyish smile of his but the longer that Tree looked at him, the more it seemed that something was slightly off. His eyes were different, somehow. Tree couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, beyond that it was unsettling. It became even more unsettling when Carter came over and calmly sat down next to Tree on his bed.

“I was thinking about that second date,” Carter said. “How about we go somewhere nicer than the diner?”

“I liked the diner.”

“You didn’t _mind_ the diner, because you were with me.”

“Well, yes, but… second date?” Up to the very last minute of yesterday, Tree had barely allowed herself to think about what she’d do next if she got out of the loop. The prospect of a second date with Carter should’ve been really exciting, but that same subtle feeling of wrong made Tree pause.

“We should celebrate,” Carter insisted. “That you’re out of the loop.”

“Yeah, there is that, but…” Tree trailed off as Carter turned his head to the door.

In fact, Carter turned to the door a clear second before said door flung open, revealing Carter’s roommate Ryan who sighed and said, “She’s back? I’m not sleeping in my car again, it smells like hot pockets and feet.”

“We’ll be out in ten,” Carter said.

“Really,” Ryan said flatly.

“Ten!”

“Fine, fine, fine. ‘Ten’.” Ryan left, closing the door behind him. Carter watched him go.

Tree, on the other hand, was staring at Carter. The euphoria of barely five minutes ago was long gone.

“You’re in a loop,” Tree said.

It took a second for Carter to reply, as though were about to argue or deflect. But he nodded, almost apologetically. Tree recognized some of the look in his eye now – exhaustion.

“You’ve been in a loop for a while,” Tree added.

“Not that long, but…” Carter shrugged. “I suppose it gets to you. But you know that.”

“Oh god,” Tree said with rising dread, “I passed—”

“There is no evidence whatsoever that you passed the loop on to me, but we seem to argue about it every single day. Yes, I’m being killed before the end of the day. No, it’s not John Tombs, he really did die during surgery last night, exactly as you confirmed for yourself at the hospital. Yes, we’ve tried putting together a list of suspects, and you already got mad at me because it’s barely a list at all.”

“Okay.” Tree’s mind was racing. “Okay, you’re going to tell me everything you’ve tried—”

“Tree.”

“—and everyone you’ve talked to—”

“ _Tree._ ”

Tree snapped her mouth shut, but mostly because Carter’s soft, imploring eyes were really freaking deadly. Her mind was still running over the implications, but she stayed quiet as Carter squeezed her hand between his.

“Can we just…” Carter exhaled. “Can we take it easy today? Just… don’t worry about it for a little while?”

It was through sheer force of willpower that Tree didn’t scream. She wanted to, and _oh_ how she could feel that scream tighten her chest. But if Carter was looping, then all of Tree’s current, immediate thoughts must already be known to him, for she would’ve said all of it loudly and repeatedly. And it wasn’t as though Carter was giving up. He was just tired, and Tree was maybe the only other person in the universe who understood just how tired.

Tree turned her hand into Carter’s and twinned their fingers together. “Okay,” she said. “Want to get breakfast, then?”

Carter narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but as Tree kept her eyes wide and agreeable, until Carter’s mouth finally slid into a grin. “Yeah, sounds good.”

+

When they walked out the dorm hall together, Tree looped her arm in Carter’s.

“Do the trick,” Tree said.

“What?” Carter said.

“The trick. You know what I’m talking about.” Tree waved a hand in a magician’s flourish at the quad. “Show me what happens this morning.”

Carter seemed confused at first; Tree must has never asked him to do this before, probably because she would’ve believed him without needing him to. Tree still found it tricky to keep track of all of her loops straight in her head, but she’d definitely done a smaller version of this trick with Carter – _this_ Carter, whom she got to and was determined to keep.

Now was Carter’s turn. He looked out at the spread before them, of their fellow college students and professors and college staff in the morning tapestry, and laughed under his breath. “Yeah, okay. Crash imminent—” he pointed, just as a guy in a red cap bowled into another student, spilling his coffee all over his shirt, “—there. Box thrown out of a window, there. Ugly break-up, right about… there.”

Tree followed each incident as Carter pointed them out, his timing as precise as clockwork. “It’s a really cool party trick,” she said. “Only if it weren’t, you know…”

“Only possible because you’re stuck on a Sisyphean task?”

“Yes,” Tree said slowly. “That.”

“Oh yeah, and Danielle’s going to call you soon, about the sorority house.”

“Really? Should I answer?”

“Probably. She wants the place cleaned up once the cops give it the clear, and she _will_ come hunting you down if you don’t have a good excuse.”

“So what’s the good excuse?”

“Hey, I don’t have a cheat sheet for everything. I just…” Carter adjusted his grip on Tree’s arm and took two steps backward, making sure that both of them were out of the way when an out-of-control cyclist zoomed past them, yelling an apology as he went.

“The pavement’s not just for show, genius!” Tree yelled after the cyclist. “That’s a way to wake up, I guess.”

“You’d think I’d remember not to walk in this direction,” Carter said distantly. “Yet I keep doing it. Maybe it’s because this has always been the route I take in the mornings, so I’m just walking without thinking?”

The distracted look in Carter’s eye gave Tree pause. It made sense, for while she was the type of person who got angry and hyperactive, Carter was the type who got quiet and thoughtful. Tree remembered thinking, somewhere between loops five and eight, that Carter would’ve figured out what was going on so much faster than she did, and that he would’ve solved the whodunit, just like that. Tree wasn’t a bad student, but she wasn’t wired for this; look how long it took for her to even understand what the heck was happening at all.

But Carter was smart and kind, and didn’t make enemies as easily as breathing, so it was neither fair nor logical that he should be in his own loop. It didn’t make any sense, and Tree wanted to badly to brainstorm all of this out loud with him. That said, if Tree learned anything from her loops (and she hoped that she did) it would be to not think about herself all the damn time. This meant that she had to follow Carter’s lead. If he didn’t want to think about it for a while, Tree had to respect that.

Tree’s cellphone went off. She rejected the call, and shoved it back into her pocket.

“I did say that Danielle’s going to hunt you down, right?” Carter frowned. “Did I say that yet today?”

“Yes, you did. But I still don’t need to answer.”

Carter sighed. “She’s not going to let it go, and she’ll find you. It doesn’t change, Tree, you know that. The mornings are all the same: we leave the dorm, you ask me or at least _think_ about asking me a dozen questions I can’t answer the way you want me to, then there’s the coffee and the box and the cyclist, over and over and—”

Tree leaned up in a quick, impulsive motion. She kissed him firmly, and Carter’s mouth parted slightly against hers, startled. When she drew back, Carter’s eyes were wide.

“How about that?” Tree said. “Does that always happen at this point, too?”

Carter blinked, adorable and owlish. “No, that’s new.”

“See, the day’s looking up already,” Tree declared. “Walk me to the house now, okay? I can leave a note for Danielle.”

“Okay.”

+

When they got to the Kappa house, it no longer had yellow tape around it. That, however, didn’t mean that it was quiet. A typical school morning would’ve had a handful of Tree’s sisters up and about, but the drama of Lori’s defenestration (a useful word, courtesy of Carter) meant that there were other people mucking around – students, for the most part, but a couple of journalist-looking-people – gawking at the spot where she landed.

While Carter waited across the street, Tree avoided the medium-sized crowd and went in via the back. She crept up to the room she shared with Lori as quickly as she could, and found most of it untouched. It seemed that only some of Lori’s things left had been left in a mess after the cops’ poking around.

Tree was in the middle of putting her hair up in ponytail when Danielle came sauntering in with the announcement: “Fundraiser, this weekend. You will be there, or you’ll have more to worry about than a cupcake.”

“Me?” Tree said. “Why?”

“For that, obviously.” Danielle pointed a perfectly-manicured finger at where the window used to be. “We can’t leave it, and the rest of the house funds need to go to the lawn.” She frowned as she took in Tree’s less-than-Kappa appearance.

“I’m traumatized.” Tree eyed the door longingly.

“We are _all_ traumatized, Tree. The peons may be clamoring for soundbites from us today, but this can turn into bad publicity on a dime, and I will not let that happen until we have our fundraiser. What the hell were you doing at the hospital yesterday anyway?”

“I’m not allowed to go to the hospital now?”

“There was a serial killer there last night, or something,” Danielle said. “Look, if one dumb journalist can make a connection between your murder-happy roommate and your traipsing around actual serial killers for funsies, we’re going to have a bigger problem on our hands. You will _not_ be bringing our house down with you.”

“Of course not, Danielle. I would never compromise the sisterhood that way.”

“Right.” Danielle rolled her eyes. “Just be available when we need you.”

“And don’t say anything to the press,” Tree finished. “Yes, I know.”

After Danielle left, Tree didn’t stay for long. She got her things, made a brief detour to the kitchen to grab some of her favorite cookies, and then she snuck out the way she came.

Carter waiting where she left him. “Looks like there’s waiting list to get in.” He inclined head towards the small gathering around the front of the house.

“Fifteen minutes of fame, I guess,” Tree said dryly. “But it’s kind of…”

“It’s kind of what?”

“None of us were close to Lori, not even me. I can’t be sad about it, because she killed me way more times that I care to remember, a lot of it in _very_ unfriendly ways, but it’s… It still feels weird, I guess. Ghoulish.”

“You don’t want anything to do with the circus, eh?”

“Bingo.”

“Good thing you’re going on a date with me, then.”

“Nope.” Tree whirled on Carter, who had a befuddled frown. “I have decided that I don’t want to.”

“Are you breaking up with me? Not that I’m assuming that I’m your, uh…”

“No, you drama queen. When we have a second date, I want to _remember_ it. That’s all.”

“Oh.” Carter was clearly about to say something stupid and defeatist, such as: how could they be sure that they’d be able to break this new loop, etc. but he valiantly swallowed it back when Tree narrowed her eyes. The threatening glare cannot have been flattering on Tree’s face, but Carter ducked his head anyway, flustered. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“We’re hanging out as friends,” Tree said. “I’m serious, Carter.”

“I guess that means that making out is out of the question.”

Tree smacked him lightly on the arm, which Carter accepted gracefully. “Yes. Unless I change my mind, but we’ll get to that when we get to that.”

Carter nodded, and studied Tree’s get-up with an amused huff. She’d added a pullover that clashed horribly with the borrowed shirt, switched out the sandals for sneakers, and was accessorizing with a very chic faux-leather go-bag. “Not that I’m judging, but is this what you wear when you hang out with friends?”

“This is what I wear when I hang out with Carter Davis, who is a friend.” At the corner of Tree’s eye she noticed one or two of the non-sister people outside the Kappa house turn in their direction. She girded her loins and pulled Carter along with her, because she was _not_ going to be mobbed for her roommate-from-slasherville story today, or ever. “Let’s get out of here.”

+

There was plenty to talk about that had nothing to do with the loop. Tree was, after all, still getting to know Carter, beyond his understanding of Groundhog Day-type murder mysteries and general badassery. She wanted to know more about his mom, his older sister, where he grew up, and all the undoubtedly nerdy things that used to and still fill up his time.

They walked around campus for a while, then found a café for coffee and snacks. It felt cliché to think of Carter as being unlike any guy that Tree had been with before, but the longer they chatted, the more that that statement felt less and less silly in her head.

As Carter finished up a story about the worst Halloween outfit he’d ever made, which was when he was twelve and had supposedly mastered the art of paper mache for cosplay, a thought occurred to Tree.

“I’m making you repeat things, aren’t I?” Tree said.

“Not that much,” Carter said. “And even when you do, it’s nice.”

“Nice,” Tree echoed, disbelieving yet charmed. “Like playing a… what was it? An MBG?”

“RPG,” Carter said. “But you’re not a game, Tree.”

“That just means I don’t always react the same way. I have multitudes.” Tree delivered this as a joke, but it made a knot furrow between Carter’s eyes.

“You really do, though,” he said. “I already had a feeling about that, before we, uh, before we got to know each other. But the more do, the more I see that feeling was correct.”

The fact of it was, Carter was really something, too. Fondness warred with concern as Tree toyed with the biscotti on her plate.

“There.” Carter leaned in, intrigued. “You were going to say something, but you stopped.”

“Wasn’t sure it was worth saying,” Tree said quietly. “If this day’s just going to get erased.”

Though she’d broken the taboo of mentioning the loop, Carter didn’t seem to mind, or even notice. The point seemed to be more important, because he immediately shook his head and said, “The day doesn’t get erased, not completely. I remember it, like you remember all of yours.”

“But is it really the same? I had to start with a near blank slate with you every time I started a new loop. You don’t need to do that in your loops, because I know who you are and how the loops work, so it’s easier.” Perhaps ‘easy’ was the wrong word to use, because Carter flinched. Tree added quickly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you don’t feel as much like a crazy person as I did those first few days, when I had no idea what was going on.”

“I’ve lost track now,” Carter said. “What was your argument?”

“I’m just feeling self-conscious that I’ve missed important things happening.” Tree cleared her throat self-consciously. “Between me and you, is what I mean. I want to know everything, but I don’t want you to tell me if I’m going to forget it again.”

For a second there, shadows seemed to pull at Carter’s face, and in them Tree could almost see the days that she no longer remembered. Carter’s pain, similar yet different from Tree’s own.

“Once it’s all over, you’ll know all of it,” Carter said. “Let’s shake on that.”

“It is worth shaking on it if—”

“ _I’ll_ remember.” Carter offered his hand. Tree looked at it dubiously, but shook it anyway. “And don’t worry, you haven’t told me any deep dark secret or anything like that.”

“Thank God. A girl’s gotta keep some mystery, after all.”

Carter laughed, and the moment eased up.

+

Every single one of Tree’s repeating days had been packed. Preparation, planning and panic filled most of her time, and the quiet moments had been few and far between. While she had taken some deliberate time-outs, such as indulging in her curiosity on dyeing her hair, getting more piercings and walking naked across the quad, those time-outs could hardly be called quiet.

Tree had certainly not done what Carter’s decided to do today, i.e. after finishing brunch, he’d led her on a leisurely stroll across the nearby park. Tree previously never had time for any of the parks unless there was a party going on, but she found herself surprisingly enjoying the walk, and not only because she got to hold Carter’s hand as they went. There were plenty of other people out there also enjoying the sun, but it felt as if they were alone, just the two of them in their cozy bubble.

“Could come out here for stargazing one day,” Carter said, looking up.

“Isn’t the light pollution really bad around here?” Tree gave him a look when he grinned at her. “I know things.”

“Yeah, the light pollution’s pretty bad, and frankly it can get pretty gross out here sometimes, but it’s nice to imagine.”

Tree tried to imagine it herself, a scenario where both of them cuddled up on a blanket and admired the night sky. She couldn’t remember the last time she did something like that – probably with mom and dad, back when they used to go boating together. The memory was startling, as was the thought that followed, which was that she wanted to do things like that again, with Carter. With dad, too, now that she was trying to mend things with him, but also with Carter.

It felt so long ago that Tree filled her time with things other than partying and getting drunk and making sure all the ‘right’ people got to see her. Those were probably still fun, but it was nice to have a variety, and especially of activities that didn’t fit the vibe of the specific type of person she’d tried so hard to become – as if once she became that person, she’d be happy and content, because people who were in control of their lives were happy and content, weren’t they?

“Yeah, it sounds nice,” Tree said. “It feels like I’ve been running forever. It’d be nice to stop and be still for a while.” She laughed. “Sorry, taboo topic again.”

“Hey, no.” Carter shook his head. “This should’ve been your day. You get exhale. I’m the one who’s…”

“Now _you_ stop that, you silly man.” Tree looped an arm around Carter’s torso and squeezed.

It was a hug, and meant to be as harmless as any other hug. But Carter crumpled against her, and let out a low, pained grunt.

“Oh God,” Tree said. “Oh shit. How many loops has it been?”

Carter shook his head, which wasn’t an answer. “I’m fine. Just a little winded, that’s all.”

“Carter, I’m not kidding! How many freaking loops has it been?”

“Seven, okay.” Carter straightened up and rubbed his chest. “Seven loops, eighth day.”

“Oh.” Tree relaxed. “Okay, that’s not so bad, but in a couple more you’re going to—”

“Wait, wait, wait. That’s… not so bad?” Carter stared at her.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s uncomfortable but it’s fine, there isn’t too much damage yet. Hopefully you’ll be able to end the loop by then, but if you don’t, just let me know _as soon_ as you wake up, okay? Because you’re just going to collapse instantly. But if tell me exactly what’s happening as soon as you wake up, I’ll know what to do.”

“You never said something like that happened to you,” Carter said, horrified.

“No? I guess it wasn’t important, yet. Obviously you were going to solve—”

“Tree you have to stop that!” Carter grabbed her by the shoulders. It didn’t hurt, but his hands were shaking. “I don’t know if I _can_ save you!”

Tree started. “What?”

“I know you think I’m smart, that I’ll figure it out, but I’m not brave the way that you are.”

“Uh, I beg to differ.”

“You’ve died, Tree.” Carter’s voice cracked. “We… we’re almost always together, when the killer comes for me. And you race forward to protect me every single time, even when I think I’ve got a plan. I’ve seen you get hurt, over and over, and then… The last time, I thought that if I didn’t mention the loops at all to you and went after the killer myself, you’d be protected, but that turned out the worst. I – I had to watch—”

“You don’t need to tell me.” Tree put her hands in his and squeezed gently. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” Carter said fiercely.

“It will be okay.”

“I’m not a good person.” It was strange to see shame in Carter’s face; so strange that it took Tree a second to recognize it at all. “Maybe these loops show us who we really are, and I’m not a good person because I keep leading you into danger and you’re always the one who—”

“Carter,” Tree said firmly. “The reason I race forward is not because I’m super brave or whatever. It’s because I got to see _you_ be brave. You think you’re not a good person? Look at how we met! You helped me that night at the party, when I can name off the top of my head a dozen guys who would’ve left me in my own drunk mess, but not you.”

“That’s not being brave—”

Tree scoffed. “Buddy, it _is_. Okay, fine, if you want something more hardcore? In one of my loops, you helped me take out Tombs without my asking you to. You barely knew me but you came anyway, and you got your neck snapped for your troubles. It may not seem possible to you because you weren’t there, but I lived it, and… I guess that’s part of me now.”

“And I’ve seen things are part of me now, too,” Carter said quietly.

“It feels to you lopsided because it’s repeating, that’s all. I know that when I was looping, every one of my mistakes felt like they were growing larger and larger until I couldn’t breathe. But here’s the thing. More important than how you ran into danger for me, was how you listened to me. I was so alone in those loops, until you. You gave me hope, and helped me see a way out. So, like… let me do that for you, okay?”

Carter took a deep breath. There was more he wanted to say, but didn’t seem to have the energy for it yet.

Tree couldn’t help wondering, though. “You said that you think that the loops show us who we really are. Who do _you_ think you really are?”

“Think too much, slow to act.”

“Uh, speaking as someone who does not think _enough_ , that can be a good thing. But, yes, also a bad thing. That’s why you have me.”

A huff of laughter startled out of Carter. Relief made Tree smile hopefully, and Carter returned it.

“There’s also, uh,” Carter said slowly, “I keep thinking that I’m smarter than I really am.”

“Oh, a proper flaw!” Tree said, delighted. “Thank goodness. I was getting a little worried there, considering what a big ol’ mess I am.”

“You’re not a…” Carter shook his head wryly. “Okay, I see what you’re doing. No idealizing.”

“Yes, that,” Tree said. Carter wasn’t holding his chest anymore, which was good. “Do you want to sit down? Get a drink?”

“Actually, all the coffee I just had is about to throw a revolt. And uh… thank you, Tree.”

“You’re welcome,” Tree said. “Not _brave_ , eesh.”

There were public restrooms on the edge of the park. They walked there together, while Tree tried her best not to be too obvious about how she was gauging how injured Carter really was. In her own loops, she’d barreled through the pain until she’d finally collapsed, but maybe it wouldn’t be like that for Carter.

Tree waited outside the restrooms while Carter went inside to relieve himself. She was deep in thought, pondering if there were ways to slow down the accumulation of injuries, that she barely noticed the approaching woman. It was only when said woman didn’t move past Tree into the women’s restroom, that Tree finally registered her.

“Theresa Gelbman?” She was tall, and old enough to be a professor though the glasses and cheap jacket were wrong for it. Her appearance did ping a memory, though.

“Oh God,” Tree said with a groan. She was one of the reporters outside the Kappa house that morning. “Look, sorority president Danielle Bouseman knows the whole story. If you want anything, or have any questions, you should just ask her. Hell, I’ll give you her number—”

“Oh, yes, Ms. Bouseman has been very helpful,” the woman said, “but _you_ were roommates with the deceased, surely—”

“My bladder is killing me,” Tree said, backing up to the entrance of the women’s restroom. “I’m just going to… Hey, did you follow me from the house?”

“I’d appreciate just five minutes,” the woman said, following her step for step towards the restroom. “We could go inside if you’d like to be—”

“Tree!” Carter shouted. He had appeared in the entrance to the men’s restroom, and his eyes were wide. “That’s not a reporter!”

Tree moved without thinking. She swung her bag outward, which was easy to do because she kept it slung loose on her dominant side.

The go-bag wasn’t ideal, but she had made do. There simply hadn’t been much time to dig around her room for potential weapons, so she’d grabbed whatever was immediately at hand, among them pepper spray, scissors, a foldout umbrella, a heavy thermos that was probably Lori’s, and the small fire extinguisher that all rooms in the Kappa house were supposed to have.

It was probably the fire extinguisher that caused the satisfying _clank_ when her bag hit the non-reporter in the head.

But that wasn’t enough. One blow hadn’t been enough for Tombs or Lori, so Tree was already moving, yanking her bag open to pull out the extinguisher free of the bag. Tree fumbled for the pin, but the woman, the non-reporter, was already up on her feet and thrust out one of those stupidly large knives that Tree was so, _so_ tired of. How did they even carry those things around?

“No, you don’t!” Carter came up from behind with a rake. He brought it down on the non-reporter, handle side first. That wouldn’t have been enough either, but it did give Tree enough to finally get the pin and let it rip in the woman’s face, smothering her.

Someone was screaming. For once, it wasn’t Tree.

In fact, once Tree’s heartbeat started to slow, she realized that there were at least a couple of people shouting as they scattered away from the tableau. Tree blinked, and it was as though a curtain fell away from her eyes, revealing the bizarreness of what just happened in broad daylight, in an open park.

Then again, Tree _did_ kick her roommate out the window recently. It’s been that kind of month for both of them (even if technically just two days in the universe’s real time).

“Is she…” Tree said.

“Still’s out, but still breathing.” Carter held up the pepper spray, which he’d taken from Tree’s discarded bag. “I stand guard, you call 911?”

“Don’t take your eyes off her.” Tree was still breathing heavily as she fumbled for her phone. “I mean it!”

“I know, I know.” Despite saying so, Carter stole a quick, disbelieving glance at Tree. “I didn’t even get to tell you how I knew she was pretending.”

“If I had to go to jail I’d just blame you. Or I’d kill you so the day would reset.”

Carter started to laugh, paused worriedly, and then laughed for real when Tree grinned. “Okay, yeah.”

“How _did_ you know?” Tree asked.

“I talked to her one loop ago. At the hospital, she was dressed as a doctor. We were there because you wanted to check _again_ that Tombs really did die in surgery, and as we were leaving, uh… well.”

“Stabbing happened?”

“Run over by a car, actually. Repeatedly. You first, then me.”

“Ouch.” Tree pressed her cellphone against her ear when the call went through. “Yes, hi, I’d like to report an attempted murder? Thanks.”

+

Tree was familiar with the next part, which was equal parts boring and tense, and ate up the next few hours.

She stayed on guard with Carter while the emergency responders arrived on site, and was a menace to any and all passersby who tried take to their picture. The woman was taken away, the police took Tree and Carter’s statements, and there was only some mild confusion when one of said police officers recognized Tree from the previous day’s incident at the Kappa house.

As the non-reporter herself, Tree didn’t expect much of an explanation about her at all, and was thus surprised when one of the detectives mentioned it to them off-hand just as the circus was clearing up.

“Tombs had a partner,” Tree said flatly.

“We weren’t sure about that until recently,” the detective said, “but yes.”

“So…” Carter frowned. “It was just a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time?”

“Tombs did think himself a poet of sorts, and Harbor followed his lead,” the detective said. “Both of you take care of yourselves, now. We’ll be in touch.”

After that, they were free to go. Sure, there was also the gathered crowd and actual reporters, but it was easy enough to slip away. Tree and Carter also mutually agreed to head back to the dorms, which seemed to be the best place to wait the rest of the day out.

“I gotta text Danielle,” Tree said. “She’s already mad about Lori, so this is going to blow her lid off.”

“You think she doesn’t already know, with how fast word gets around?”

“True.” Tree sent an apologetic message anyway, just so Danielle would have one less thing to hold against her. Once that was done, she tucked her phone away and shifted all her attention back to Carter, which was far more pleasant. “I’m just glad you didn’t have someone stalking you. I knew you couldn’t have done anything terrible, but it was driving me nuts trying to figure out why someone would be after you.”

“So you feel better that she was after _you_?” Carter said with a laugh. “Aren’t you tired of that?”

“Yeah, I guess, but this wasn’t personal, so I can’t be mad. Really!” Tree insisted. “Okay, so Harbor saw me asking about Tombs at the hospital the night that he died, and when she saw the news about Lori’s death, got it into her head that I’m some sort of Harbinger of Death that had to be taken care of. None of that makes it _actually_ my fault, so yeah. I’ll take it.”

“I respect that,” Carter said. “And hey, look, I played myself again. I assumed the killer was after me because I was the one looping.”

“You’re missing the point. You were always with me when she attacked, and by your description, you tended to die before she finished up with me. Which _means_ , mister I’m-not-brave, that you were the one protecting me _from_ her.”

“Well.” Carter looked abashed. “Looking back, it seems I made so much ruckus that it made more sense to deal with me first before she got to turn her attention on you.”

“If it works, it works. You’re bad-ass.”

“Oh, that’s good. My girlfriend’s bad-ass, too, so I should probably try to keep up.”

“Hah!”

They’d finally reached the dorm’s main doors. Carter paused on the stone blocks and turned back to look up at the grand clock. “Do you think it’s over?”

Tree paused, chewing her lip. “I hope so. Even if it isn’t… You learned something, right?”

Carter nodded slowly. “And I did get to have a nice day with you before that.”

It felt idiotic to blush at that simple statement, but it was true. Tree _did_ get to have a nice day (attempted murder aside) and her only regret was the possibility that she wouldn’t remember it. But as soon as she had that thought, Tree immediately shook it out of her head, because they would have other nice days together eventually, she was sure of it.

“Cross your fingers, champ,” Tree said.

+

The rest of the day was uneventful. They had takeout for dinner, watched a couple of movies on Carter’s laptop, and talked about all sorts of topics that had nothing to do with death or repeating days. Carter’s roommate Ryan came by begging to kick Tree out; Tree was in a tentatively optimistic mood and said that she’d be fine with mutual toleration, i.e. both Tree and Ryan would sleep in the room if they’d mutually not complain about the other.

Carter got quieter and quieter as it approached midnight. Tree couldn’t do much about this part, except hold him as they snuggled up in his bed together. It was a testament to Tree’s new reality that this set-up was perfectly cozy instead of stifling.

“I better not hear anything funny once lights-out,” Ryan said.

“That does not keep to the terms of this agreement,” Tree called out. “No commentary, por favor.”

“Guys,” Carter said warningly. “’Night.”

+

In the morning, wakefulness came with the chime of the campus clock. Tree stretched her jaw in a clumsy yawn, groggy and lethargic, until she remembered and snapped awake. She turned sharply to her side, just in time to see Carter, who was tucked next to her, undergo the same journey from sleepiness to full consciousness.

They both pushed themselves up onto their elbows and looked at the other side of the room. Ryan was in his bed, though only the top of his head was visible above his comforter.

Carter was closest to the side table, and grabbed at his cellphone. He swiped at the screen, and showed it to Tree.

_Wednesday, September 20._

They looked at each other, and screamed. Well, mostly it was Tree doing the screaming because she’d gotten good at that lately, while Carter pumped a fist and went, “Yes, oh my God! Finally!”

“Wednesday!” Tree fell back onto the bed and clutched at her chest. Every breath felt like a gasp of pure relief. “It’s Wednesday! Carter! Second date!”

Carter nodded. “Second date.”

In the other bed, Ryan sat up, bleary and annoyed. “Guys. Seriously?”

“Sorry!” Tree called out. She even meant it, though she clung to Carter through the sheer, breathtaking joy. She realized that Carter was doing the same, his hand squeezing tight around hers. In fact, Carter looked rather like he was about to cry, but in a good way.

“Hi,” Carter whispered.

“Hi,” Tree replied. Ryan had already pulled the cover back over his head, but it felt right to whisper. “I’m Tree. I survived a time loop. How about you?”

“I’m Carter. I also happen to have survived a time loop. How about that?”

Tree wrinkled her noise. “Weird coincidence.” She was tempted to kiss him, and knew that Carter felt the same. But Ryan was there, and besides, there was time for that later.

There would be whole, _brand new_ days later, where they had no idea what was going to happen next. And that was amazing.


End file.
